Chris Brady wrote:Then don't make it half cost?
Or just don't use it.
My biggest problem is it's such a loosely defined broad Ability. You could be knowledgeable in mechanics, airplanes, motorcycles; you could be knowledgeable in astrophysics or Matoran or languages. Knowledge serves better as a way to round a character, making them know something more than just be a sum of abilities, giving them more character.
Besides, just because I know a lot about Bruce Lee and Jeet Kune Do, does not make Me a martial artist.
Chris Brady wrote:Actually, yes it did. Very rarely did you ever see the Hero(ine)s actually be without their weapon of choice. That includes Mecha, by the by.
Very few heroes had more than one weapon skill under their belt that they showed.
Not really. Okay, Mecha: Amuro still was able to pilot various MS despite the Gundam being the signature weapon for him. He still fought with pistol and unarmed arts. Heck, the final battle in the original Gundam was between him and Char outside of their MS, with fencing sabers!
Vash the Stampede used his revolver almost exclusively. He also had the hidden machine pistol in his left arm, as well as the Angel Arms. Not only that, he also displayed some kung faux as he tried to comically avoid hurting people, or even used a toy gun once.
Guts has his signature Dragon Slayer sword, but also has throwing knives and his arm cannon and repeating crossbow. That doesn't stop him from also grabbing anything nearby to fight with if he needs to (which he often does, when going against Acolytes).
Any member of the Getter team can pilot any Get Machines and configuration of the Getter. Just because they have a preference for a certain machine doesn't mean they can't and won't change things up. Morever, they do show to use knives, guns, bazookas, axes, swords, grenades- anything those crazy pilots can get their hands on.
Cloud from FF7 only has swords as his weapons in the game, but as a Soldier we know he can also use guns and magic.
Tommy the Power Ranger, excluding the fact that his character is cobbled together from about 5 different Sentai, fights with an evil sword, a dagger, martial arts, and different Zords, even taking over other Zords if someone is incapacitated.
So, no. Just because a character has a signature weapon or something doesn't exclude them from having other attacks- even if it's something we don't see happen often or at all, because the show doesn't need to focus on that situation.
Belisarion wrote:Does instead imply that combat expert is excluded when a combat knowledge is applied?
Example:
combat expert +1
knowledge(karate) +3
Would for example a karate attack be calculated
...combat +1, knowledge(karate) +3, base +2 = Roll 6
or
... knowledge(karate) +3, base +2 = Roll 5, thus without combat expert on top
?
It adds together. The instead in this instance means that Knowledge might be the more relevant Ability to select than the broadly skilled Combat Expert.
However, Combat Expert usually has a descriptor to generally describe the type of combat the character prefers (Such as Sword and Sorcery for Auren or Telekinetic Power for Ai). This doesn't mean they're restricted to such attacks, rather just what sort of attacks they'd often do.
It'd become redundant if Knowledge was used in the same way (although for Knowledge, it does restrict that dice to just that area). You then also get the potential for abuse with Agile+Combat Expert+Knowledge+Accurate.
Again, with the redundancy it could present, plus the differing uses of the ability, the dice pile-up it could do, and the question of if it should be half points or not, as well as none of the sample characters using it; I don't think using Knowledge for combat skills is worth it. It's an option, but not a good one IMO.
In fact, now that I think about it, Knowledge (Combat skill) would be good for characters who think they're better than they are. You know the trope of the prissy villain who claims to know how to kill with Hokuto Shinken, or is legendary with the sword- then is near useless in actual combat.
Going back to Quigley Down Under, Alan Rickman's character, the villainous Elliot Marston, is someone knowledgeable in cowboys and sharpshooting, but as Quigley says "This ain't Dodge City, and you ain't Bill Hickok." Marston would be an example of someone with Knowledge but not being skilled enough (low if any Combat Expert).